Another Interesting Take on EV's

Unfortunately, geothermal energy isn't free, there are costs. All that hot water is full of minerals, and must be disposed of in such a way as to not mess with the surroundings. Plus hydrothermal plants can deplete local aquifers and screw up locals' wells. These issues are very real in Nevada and California right now, especially as water soars in value. Barron Hilton just sold his huge ranch, the Flying M, to a land trust who wants it for the water rights. Las Vegas interests were trying to buy the same land, to ship water about 300 miles to their area. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying-M_Ranch

 

My conceptual understanding of hydrothermal or geothermal is that it’s heat extraction, not water extraction. On a basic/theoretical level I think you would insert a heat exchanger into the area that has water/rock/earth at the heat range which is needed for the intended application. For making electricity, a hydrothermal area would need to be hot enough to boil water to make steam, to turn turbine generators.

I’m sure that this is all very difficult to do, and there might be shortcuts taken on current hydrothermal or geothermal sites where water is freely injected or extracted. But from a theoretical standpoint, I think a closed loop heat exchanger is ideal.

 

Don't leave out Russia / Soviet Union from needing a massive cleanup.

 

Usually, waste heat is considered waste heat when it doesn’t have enough energy to do meaningful work (such as generating the energy required to produce hydrogen). The a nuke plant itself however is a good candidate for hydrogen production.

Regardless, I’m not sure why re-using waste heat would be a strategy for making nuclear power more “green”. Waste energy isn’t the problem. Nuke plants already don’t emit any particulates, and don’t add any C02 to the environment. A nuke plant in operation is literally emmisions free as it is.

Of course, the problem with nuke plants (outside of a core melt-down that releases radiation), is that the nuclear material used to make steam will eventually cool off to a level that it can’t boil water anymore. When that happens, that nuclear material is useless. And it requires extreme measures to safely dispose of it.

Waste energy on nuke plants or any other machine can be used to pre-heat things that need preheating, but just the fact that it’s waste heat already indicates it’s not practical,economical, or reasonable to go through the trouble.

 

Same, probably. Though I'd be okay with a Prius. Tons of high mileage Prii roaming around.

One might be able to score on a used EV depending on warranty though. David Tracy from The Autopian recently bought a high mileage BMW EV for 10k. Battery turned out to be used up, but due to fine print in the warranty he got the battery replacement fully covered.

 

Its all a scam, EV just wont cut it without dramatically improving battery/storage, let alone the infrastructure for it.

Ultimately we are in a waiting game for when the Alien power technology is finally released for all to use in one form or another.

 

Sounds like you both were very smart!

I'm 45, I wish I had learned this in my 20s. Most of my life since 18 I've had car payments on used vehicles. Never bought new at least.

 

On a much smaller scale my neighbor just returned two leaf blowers that were rechargeable to Home Depot. His old gas one of 18 years died.

The new rechargeable jobs did not last more than 15 min running. Apparently HD is on board with all this bs and stopped selling gas leaf blowers in various regions.

Luckily my neighbor found a new echo gas blower at an independent shop. Get this stuff while you can if you need it.

 

My wife to-be and an engineer I supported at work turned me into an adult at 30.
So long fast cars, motorcycles and all night poker games, hello seemingly endless nights at classes and studying.
I got a AA in civil engineering out of HS, after that brutal 7 years of night classes I got the technical core of a BS which impressed the mucky mucks enough to hire me after being a TEMPORARY contract technician for THIRTEEN years……my daddy didn’t work there.

 

Told my wife if she didn't want her husband to ride she would need to find a new husband.

You made the right decision though.

 

I’ve been very happy with my battery weed wackier, runs way better and with less hassle than any of the gas ones I’ve had to buy over the years.

 

Mine too. I got a Milwaukee and the larger battery it came with to go along with my screw gun, sander, reciprocating saw, and Sawzall.

I fought a corded weed whacker for years and this is the bees knees compared to that. The larger battery (when rotated with my two smaller ones) now gives me enough rotating power to keep the sander going as long as needed. I used to go through a smaller battery quicker than I could charge one so would have to stop and wait

 

I have had mine for over 10 years now and although I have replaced the batteries twice, they were less than $50, I still love it. My battery blower is the same age and going strong. I also have a Greenworks lawnmower and I hope it lasts as long.

 

My dad bought a Ryobi electric mower a few years back. I've used it a few times, it's awesome. Lighter and easier to maneuver than a gas mower, and being quieter means I can listen to music with ear buds. It's got more torque than a gas mover, so tall & thick grass barely slows it down.

He also appreciates not having to deal with filling gas cans and dealing with bad gas every spring.

 

So in small scale tests (tools, weed whackers, mowers) they may work fine if you have a small area to work in. I have about 1/3 acre that's mostly on a slope and I'm not convinced a mower will last if all electric - I have to partially refill with gas.

Larger scale, as used in transportation, not sure we are there yet depending on the range

 

I absolutely love battery power tools, I wouldn’t buy a EV though. IMHO, it is just an experiment right now. Power tools don’t leave you stranded in the middle of nowhere.
I have had the majority of my Kobalt battery powered tools for over 5 years and and really like them. They carry a 5yr tool/3yr battery warranty.
I have beaten the crap out of most of them and have even broke a couple but have been replaced under warranty.
One grinder ingested a shard of stucco mesh I was cutting and instantly smoked and I wore out a drill chuck. Zero problems with the 9 batteries.
I run two grinders to avoid constant disc swapping, contemplating a third.
The 5yr old mower is still running great.
Really nice not to have to mess with mower ICE maintenance. I have 2 ATVs + SxS, 3 vehicles and a gas pressure washer to maintain and one less ICE is welcome, especially when it’s a boring mower. I can stand it on end in the winter for storage for more garage space. You can actually hear the blade cutting.
My most used favorites….flashlight, mower, leaf blower, hedge trimmer and the grinders.
The heat gun is probably the worst, I’m going to replace my dead HF 120v one soon as the battery one is kinda weak.

I’m 68yrs old on a 2 acre lot and not having to drag a cord around, especially with the string trimmer/hedge trimmer is a god send.
The majority of my neighbors have commercial landscape maintenance but I’m a diy tightwad and any tool to help me with this huge yard is a automatic purchase. My big hobby is metal work fabrication.
The lineup:

80v mower w/2 batteries
24v:
1/2 Drill
1/4 impact
1/2 impact
4-1/2 grinders X2
Circular saw
String trimmer
Hedge trimmer
Leaf blower
Heat gun
Sawsall
Oscillating saw
Orbital sander
Flashlights x2
Trouble light
Inflator
USB adapter
9 batteries total.

 

I have battery blower , weed eater, and mower on my 2/3 acre property I don’t have problems with my batteries at all. If more people used these,
Including companies, we could cut out a lot of the carbon pollution. The small engines are way worse than standard ICE cars.

 

People in this topic be all like "it's 1985 and our video games look like Super Mario Bros. and I'm going to huff and puff because they don't look like Crysis 3 so I'm going to have fun playing with sticks because sticks are how it's always been done and 100% should be the way it will always be done because I don't understand the concept of technology improving over time."

I can tell you, Akio Toyoda probing me in my non-EV 4Runner with all of its 2020 Big Brother Akio technology has been a delightful experience, and I look forward to more technologically advanced ways for Akio Toyoda to explore my cavity.

 

I should have said no NEW fast motorcycles. I got to keep my 83 Interceptor until 2005 and get this….my rich sister bought me a new ST1300 for my 50th birthday! I kept that until 2016 when we moved to the NV high Desert and I sold it a bought a 2nd ATV and and SxS with the proceeds + side job $.
I loved that Interceptor, I wish I still had it.
I have zero desire to buy a EV.

 

Yeah, I remember when the government tried to ban sticks.

 

Well, certain types of sticks. You can still buy the sticks they approve. But that list is shrinking.

 

Well, they're imposing or potentially will be imposing rules on woodburning stoves in new construction, so they kind of do try to ban sticks!

 

https://www.allsides.com/news/2023-...amaging-environmental-impact-residential-wood

 

Horrendous overreach. Many people supplement there heat with wood stoves.

Give an inch they take a mile.

 

I don't know about you guys, but my wood is for pleasure, not for burning.

 

How do you avoid splinters.....

 

Used a pellet stove to heat my house 100% this past winter. Many wood stoves around Maine.

 

I would love to move to NH or Maine. Maybe some day.

 

I use a lot of lube.